Here we go again. JL Atlantis DVD SPOILER

[Lax]

When I see that scene I'm thinking to myself "why did he actually have to try an kill it?". I mean I have no indication that this Superman knew that thing would live or did live so I'm left scratching my head as to why he's made to try an kill it. Would it not have been more bad-ass for Superman to get in some good shots and then scare it away with a puffed out chest and stern look in his eye? Then he'd look back at Aquaman with a smile indicating that the creature didn't know any better. He would have look like less of a desperate random cape just looking to get out of there by the skin of his teeth and looked more like Superman the biggest gun with the biggest heart. He's Superman he works on the scale of the giants, so their monsters are right in his wheel house to be tamed.

I was thinking "Why is that creature not running away after getting it's tentacles burned off?", there has to be easier prey out there than this bite-sized snack.

To your second point I have to say that then there are those of us who obviously like the more compassionate benevolent nature he is normally known to exude. Crippling defect? Dear god, that is hyperbole. I mean is it such a crippling defect that ever profitable and human (!) Batman doesn't kill? What stories are we really missing out on? The end of the Joker? Then last Lex story? Superman not killing only becomes an issue if one insist on making literal what is clearly a figurative and expressive character that's was created for allegory, escapism and the venting of ideas. It was all tikker taped together in a bright gaudy suit, big smile and cheek bones.

When taken to a fanatical extreme, compassion, like anything else, can be a crippling defect. It can lead to inaction and make even the easiest decision unnecessarily taxing on the soul.

I remember how he struggled with the idea of killing Doomsday. He couldn't dimension dump him, he couldn't reason with him, he was regarded as the only being powerful enough to stop him and he knew Doomsday was going to slaughter everyone on the planet if he failed.

Killing Doomsday under those circumstances was still a difficult choice for Superman because of "compassion". I didn't respect or admire his internal conflict, I found it pathetic and self-serving at best, utterly insane at worst.

Superman and the superhero is short hand for articulating the best in us. It's not articulating the best in us if he is a character that is constantly made to compromise and bend knee to "it was a necessary evil", "I didn't see any other way", or "it was in the heat of the moment". Those are excuses that we shouldn't instantly look to as our safe passage from hard work and being just a bit more clever to get the job done right. Superman is the short hand expression of the feeling of being at your very best. He's not a fire man, police man, doctor, or politician. Those people can let you down. Superman can never let you down no matter what the situation throws his way. He's simply better than them and he's better than that. That's not discrediting those people or professions because of the simple fact that Superman is made up. He has the power to do anything so he does.

Acknowledging the existence of "necessary evil" within a story is a form of making excuses?

If so, why draw the line at killing?

Edit: With all this said I don't see why Superman has to kill. You can harp about contrivances all you'd like but is it any more contrived that the good guys always win? That earth isn't blown up? Or that somehow during a fight with a super powered alien our man of steel finds this never before seen grip strength and puts the evil alien in an inescapable headlock that affords no other option but death? All while the one family is being targeted for death? Just because there are "realistic" elements in a comic book doesn't make it any less contrived. All it does make me feel sad that people enjoy the contrivance where the people die as opposed to the one where they live.

Where the evil people die.

The innocent people are usually going to die throughout the course of the story anyway. Their lives being threatened is why the issue comes up in the first place. They are used as sacrificial lambs to showcase the power and/or ruthlessness of the villain. I don't sympathize with Zod, I don't pity Doomsday and I don't weep for a sea predator because it had the rotten luck of trying to kill prey that could actually fight back.

With all this said I don't mean to "take this out on you". My intent is more to reply to the thread rather than you specifically (you are however welcome to reply back along with anyone else). In any case I hope I was able to share myself in a clear and polite manner as that was my intent with this.

Cheers everyone!

Likewise hostility is not my intent.